Slack Tub Swarms

[primtechsmith]

Being in the south where humidity never sleeps there always seems to be a problem with mosquitoes. They need water to facilitate more of these blood suckers and it seems the slack tub is a perfect place for them. I usually put a drop or two of cutting oil in there. It works okay. But it does not kill them off completely. I am scared to do more than that because I may jeopardize the quenching qualities of the slack tub itself.

How do you keep the swarm out of your slack tub?

Peyton

[irnsrgn]

liquid bleach

[Glenn]

* Add a little household bleach to sanatize their gene pool.

* Use the slack tub more often. After a good day at the forge, the heat from the metal will bring the water temp up to jacuzi level and skidders are no more. There is the rumor that a good blacksmith, while quenching metal, could would boil off half the water in his full whiskey barrel slack tub by lunch. Me thinks he startes earlier in the morning than I do.

[primtechsmith]

I don't have time to forge anymore. You keep adding new features, and I just can't leave the site!!!!!!!!!!!!


:-)
Peyton

[Gronk]

Im told that skeeter eggs float on top of the water and need air to breathe. That's why standing water is good for them, not running or moving water. Stir the tub (use it) every three days or so. No time for that? Cheap mouthwash seems to work ok for me. Don't know what that may do for quenching properties of anything other than mild steel though. Doesn't smell too bad either.

[JPH]

Howdy!!


Dish soap....that's what I have used, plus it settles all the gunk down to the bottom as well....that way when you clean the tub you get that wonderful black sludge that is easy to deal with...

Seriously though, a couple of squirts of liquid dish soap will do it...

JPH

[Tyler Murch]

They make little floating things for killiling skeeter larva or whatever it is. You can probably get them at any hardware store.

[Marc]

I just put a cover on mine. Once in a while I add some bleach, but that's more to kill the other biotics.

[Glenn]

Dish soap....that's what I have used, plus it settles all the gunk down to the bottom as well....JPH

Your comment reminded me of #41 on the Advice to New Blacksmiths by Richard Hanson.

41.Besides the above, when is the last time you changed that water, and what is in there that killed all the algae and mosquitoes.

42. While you got your hand in the slack tub, you might as well clean it out. Only a couple inches of goo in the bottom this time, but that crunchy thing, dripping with slime that you just pulled out, looks a lot like a dead rat. That's ok, he didn't die from putting a burned hand or foot in mucky water, he drowned.

[HWooldridge]

A related note while we are on slack tubs. My first tub was a half whisky barrel like the ones sold at the nurseries. After regular use over about six months of water standing in that keg, I developed a nasty skin fungus on my hands (I washed in it regularly). I went to the doc and he said there are all sorts of critters that can live in wood barrels so I should switch to a different container. We had an old galvanized bath tub that looked right for the job and it has held water for the last 20 or so years with only one patch job. I also never had the skin fungus return. This wouldn't have been a problem if I had only washed with fresh water but that tub is always convenient.